BEIJING, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Italian tire maker Pirelli, acquired by state-owned China National Chemical Corp (ChemChina) in 2015, would look to further focus on the Chinese market, according to Chinese media report.
Pirelli may boost output from its factories in China, China Global Television Network quoted Ren Jianxin, chairman of ChemChina and Pirelli as saying that Pirelli plans to invest more than 120 million euros between 2018 and 2020 to further expand its market in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in China, where its latest smart tire system is expected to be available next year.
Two of Pirelli’s 19 factories around the world are located in Yanzhou, eastern China’s Shandong Province, and Jiaozuo, central China’s Henan Province, with annual production of 12 million tires, according to Pirelli’s data.
The Asia-Pacific market was the fastest growing region for Pirelli in 2017, with 800 million euros (948 million U.S. dollars) revenue, up 14.3 percent year-on-year, of which more than two thirds came from the Chinese market, according to Pirelli.
In addition to a great performance in the world’s largest auto market, China’s improving business environment is also an attractive factor, Marco Tronchetti Provera, executive vice chairman and CEO of Pirelli said.
China’s opening-up policy in the auto sector will attract more investment and bring better growth opportunities for the whole industry, he added.
The Chinese government announced in April it would gradually ease restrictions on joint ventures in the auto industry, removing foreign ownership caps completely by 2022.
After being taken over by ChemChina, Pirelli streamlined to focus on high-end consumer tires for brands including Audi, BMW and Mercedes, folding its truck and industrial tire business into a unit of ChemChina, according to the report. (Contributed by Zhao Danliang, Danliang67@xinhua.org, edited by Zhang Aifang, zhangaf@xinhua.org)
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